Wrapping method and apparatus



Oct. 4, 1960 B. A. ARVIDSON WRAPPING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Sept. 22, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fi wzzzzz m $4? 9- Oct. 4, 1960 B. A. ARVIDSON 2,954,654

WRAPPING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Sept. 22, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

.5 Z 0/. Qrzjia sam M W United States'Patent WRAPPING AND APPARATUS Bengt A. Arvidson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Miller Wrapping & Sealing Machine Co., a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 762,461

6 Claims. (CI. 53-31) This invention relates to wrapping of articles and more particularly to an apparatus facilitating. manual wrap of articles and a method for manually wrapping articles.

In the past, meats or produce and other commodities have been packaged for sale in self-service stores by the use of transparent wrapping material. One form of wrap commonly used is the diamond wrap in which a wrapping material, such as cellophane, is cut into generally square sheets and placed around the merchandise so that diagonally opposite corners of the sheet are brought in overlapping relation at the underside of the package.

This invention relates to an apparatus and a method for increasing the speed of the manually performed diamond wrap operation and with less operator fatigue. Previously it has been the common practice to place an article upon the corner of a sheet of wrapping material and then place the sheet over the article by grasping the diagonally opposite corner of the sheet and moving the sheet. It has been necessary to pull this opposite corner free from some securing means in the tray sup porting the sheets which is sometimes difiicult to accomplish. Also, the adjustment for initially setting up the location of a stack of wrapping sheets relative to an article when the article size changes has involved a cumbersome trial and error process.

An object of this invention is to provide new and improved apparatus in which an article is supported in a position remote from the sheet of wrapping material and overlying an attached corner of a wrapping sheet by article locating means whereby the diagonally opposite free sheet corner may be easily grasped and placed around the package.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus as defined in the preceding paragraph wherein movement of the article away from the locating means also releases the attached corner of the sheet so that the free sheet corner may be placed in overlapping relation with the now unattached sheet corner under the article.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of wrapping an article comprising, locating the article in spaced relation above a corner of a wrapping sheet, drawing the major portion of said sheet over and around said article while said corner remains below the article, moving said article and simultaneously placing said corner against the article, overlapping said sheet corner with the diagonally opposite sheet corner under the article, and sealing said overlapped corners of the sheet.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in con nection with the accompanying drawings in which:

ICE

structure shown in Fig. 1 with an article and a sheet of wrapping material shown at difierent stages of the wrapping operation and the article platform in a different. adjusted position for a wider article;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and showing further steps in the wrapping operation including the completion thereof;

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a Wrapping table in association with the lead-in conveyor of a wrapping machine and showing the apparatus facilitating the manual Wrap of an article;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the width of the platform depending upon the width of the Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the wrapping table taken generally along the line 4-4 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar to Fig. 2 with parts in section and showing different positions of adjustment of the article locating platform in full and broken line, respectively.

While this inventionjis susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The

scope of the invention will be pointed out in the ap pended claims.

As shown generally in the drawings, the apparatus comprises a table indicated generally at 10 having a top 11 which is disposed adjacent an article receiving support indicated generally at 12. The support 12, as shown in the drawings, is the lead-in conveyor mechanism to a wrapping machine as disclosed in my application Serial No. 642,526, filed February 26, 1957. This lead-in conveyor mechanism includes a pair of spaced apart conveyor chains 13 and 14 for moving an article through wrapping machinery.

The apparatus further comprises article locating means, indicated generally at 15, positioned adjacent an end of the table 10. A hot plate 16 is mounted in fixed relation to the table 10 adjacent the article locating means 15.

The table top 1 1 is adapted to support a tray 20 which carries a stack of superimposed sheets 21 of wrapping material having a rectangular shape and more particularly a square shape. The tray 20 carries a pair of leaf spring members 22 and 23 which together carry at one corner of the tray a block 24 mounting a downwardly extending sharp pin 25 for piercing each of the sheets in a corner thereof to hold the sheets on the tray. Each of the sheets 21 has a corner 21a secured to the tray while the diagonal opposite corner 21b rests free in the tray. The remaining two corners 21c and 21d of the sheet also are free and unattached to the: tray.

The table 10 and tray 20 are provided with coacting means whereby the tray may be slidably guided for movement along the table top 11. This means includes a groove 26 formed in the table top and an elongated projection 27 formed on the underside of the tray. This means is more fully disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 656,044, filed April 30, 1957. This sliding adjustment of the tray permits easy positioning of the sheet corner 21a in the desired position under the article locating means 15.

The article locating means 15 includes an upstanding member 30 in the form of a plate secured to the table by means such as threaded bolts 31 and rising a distance above the table top 11 and terminating in a turned over upper end 32 sloping in a direction away from the table. This plate extends substantially across an end of the table as shown in Fig. 1 and mounts an article supporting platform composed of a pair of members 33 and 34 positioned one above the other. The plate 33 is fixed to the upstanding plate 30 by a pair of brackets 35 and 36 and the member 34 is movable relative thereto to vary the article supported thereby. The members 33 and 34 are releasably held in fixed position relative to each other by two rows of spaced notches 37 formed in the member 33-which selectively receive-a. pairof downwardly extending pins 38 carried by the member34. Thenotches 37 formed in the member 33 nearest the upstanding plate 30 are formed as elongated slots whereby the member 34 may be moved adistance toward the-right, as viewed in Fig. 5, before pivoting themember 34 in a counterclockwise direction to free the pins 38 from the notches 37. This permits the member 34 to have enough pivot movement whereby the pins 38 will clear the notches.

The member 34 has a pair of-extensions :40 and '41extending through openings 42 and 43 on the upstanding plate 30 and having upturned ends 44 and 45 whereby the movement of the member 34 toward the right, as viewed in 5, is limited.

Each of the members 33 and 3 4 forming the platform are provided with a cutout area intermediate their ends to facilitate manual grasping of an article positionedon the platform. These cutout areas are indicated at 46 and 47 in the platform members 33 and 34, respectively.

The hot plate '16 is surrounded by a panel 50 and the panel and hot plate have a slope corresponding to that ofthe turned over end 32 of the plate 30 whereby the movement of an article across the hot plate and onto the article receiving conveyor 12 is a straight slopedpath.

As anadditional aid in'locating an article on the-article locating means 15, an adjustably mounted block 51 is mounted in a slot 52 and overlies the article platform to define an abutment-against which an article end maybe engaged.

The method of wrapping an article as facilitated by the foregoing structure is now described.

An article such as a tray 60 is placed on the article locating platform in a spaced location'above the attached corner 21a of a sheet of wrapping material disposed in the 'tray'20. The tray is oriented to have the adjacent edges of a sheet extending obliquelytoward the article locatingmeans 15 and to have the sheet diagonal extend normal to the upstanding. plate 30. The free sheet corner 21b is then manually grasped and carried to the full'line position shown in Fig. 2 to place the sheet of wrapping materialacross the top of the article 60 with the sheet corners 21c and 21d extending out from opposite ends of the article, as shown in broken 'line in Fig. 1. The article 60 is thengrasped at the right-hand edge thereof, as viewed in Fig. 2, with an'operators fingers disposed in the Cutout areas "46 and '47 and the article moved inthe direction of arrow 70 while at the same time the corner 21b is being'held to hold the sheet tight. This operation has resulted in the sheet corner 21a 'beingfreed from the tray pin 25 so that it may closelylie against the underside of the article.

Now referring to Fig. 3, the corner 21b of the sheet of material is placed under the article in overlapping relation'w'ith the sheet corner 21a and the article then moved inthe direction of arrow 71 across the sloped end 32 of-plate 30 an'd'hot plate 16'to heat seal the overlapped cornerstogether. The sliding of the article acrossthe rounded'and slopedend'32pulls the wrapping material tight'and'smooths out"wrinkles. The article maythen be-dropped on the conveyor 12. The article'then may havesheet corners 21c an'd21d folded under and sealed manually, or this maybe done'by the machine disclosed in" the" aboveine'ntioned application.

Norinallyfto'obtain 'the'proper diamond Wra'pit is necessary to 'us'ea difierent size sheet 21'with adifferent sized article 60. "This requires the proper location'of' the sheet corner 21a'relative' to the article so as to have the diagonal between the sheet corners 21c and 21d overlie the middle'of the article. "This adjustment maybe easily aceompli's'hed'by'sliding the tray tothe desired position relative to' thetable top 11 while loosely holding a sheet in the full line position of Fig. '2 to properly locate the the article the article is themgrasped bythe other hand of the operator to remove the article from'the platform and this "also pulls the attaehed corner 21a of the sheet from the tray while the fingers of the='operator are pressing the now unattached corner 21a against the underside ot the article. The-timesaving is also facilitated by the sloped top of the hot plate and'its position'immediately adjacent the article platform whereby in one :easy continuous motion the overlap on the sheet corners is completed, the corners are sealed, and the article is dropped onto the conveyor without the operator having to take any steps.

I claim:

'1. Article wrapping apparatus comprising, -a table hav-' ing a'top, articlelocating means adjacent an end ofthe table having an upstanding. plate with an upper end sloped away from the table and a platform extending over the table top and spaced therefrom whereby an article may rest on theplatform with-an edge .thereof engaging the plate, a hot plate adjacent said upstanding plate at the side opposite the platform with an upper 'face'sloped similarly to said plate upper end, a tray resting on the table top adapted to hold a stack'of rectangularjwrap ping sheets with the adjacent edges of'asheet extending obliquely toward said article locating means to have the sheet diagonalextend normal to saidplat'e, a first corner of each sheet'being removablyheld by the tray and the diagonally oppositecornerbeing free,'said tray being adjustable on the table toplace said sheet first corner under and spaced "from an article on thelplatform wherebythe free corner may be moved up and over the article and plate'upperend and'the article thenmoved'off the'plat form'with the sheet carried'therewithto free .saidsheet' first'corner from the .tray to permit overlapping saidifirst cornerand 'saidfree'corner'under the articlejpnor topassing them 'a'cossthe'hot plate.

2. Articlewrapping apparatus asdefined in claim '1 in which said platform includes a first member in fixed relation to the plate and'asecond'member' movable relative to the plate to'vary the width of the platform over the table, means defining a cut-out'in'each ofsaidmembers intermediatetheir ends and remote'from said'plate to'ifacilitatefm'a'nual grasping of 'an article and wrapping sheet associatedtherewith, and coating pin 'andnotch means o'n'sai'd members for'maintaining the members in adjusted position relative to each other.

3. A method of wrapping an article comprising, locating the article in'spaced'relation above a releasably held corner of a wrapping sheet, drawing the major portion of said sheet over and around said article while said sheet corner remains fixedly held below the article to main tain tension onsaidsheet, manually gripping said partially wrapped. article by placement .of ahand over the article aswell 'aswithin the space between the article andsaid'sheet corner, moving said gripped article and simultaneously'increasing the tension on said'sheet'to release the sheet corner and placing'said sheet corner against the 'article, overlapping said sheet corner'with the diagonally "opposite'sheet corner, and sealing said overlapped corners of the sheet.

4. Article wrapping apparatus comprising, a table having a top, 'article'locating :and supporting means for positioning an'article' includinga platform having a lateral extent'and spacedabove the table top, means adapted to support a sheet of wrapping'materialon the table top beneath and clearer said platform and an article supportedther'eby with a' first cornerro'f each sheet beneath and ,spaced from the platform, means .for removably holding said first corner against movement, said spacing between the platform and sheet permitting placement of an operators hand therein to engage the underside of the article as the article is manually grasped for withdrawal from the platform, and a second corner of the sheet diagonally opposite the first corner being free whereby the free second corner may be drawn up and over the article and the article then moved from the article locating means to free the first corner and the first and second corners are overlapped under the article.

5. Article wrapping apparatus comprising, a table having a top, a tray resting on said table top and adapted to hold a stack of superimposed sheets of wrapping material, means for removably holding a first corner of each sheet, a second corner of the sheets diagonally opposite the first corner being loose in the tray, an article supporting platform located above the table top a distance to overlie said tray and be spaced therefrom, said tray being adjustable on the table top to position said sheet first corner under and spaced from an article on the platform with the sheet second corner remote from the platform, said spacing between the platform and sheet permitting placement of an operators hand therein to engage the underside of the article as the article is manually grasped for Withdrawal from the platform, whereby the sheet second corner may be drawn up and over the article and the article then moved from the platform which frees the first corner from the tray and the first and second corners are overlapped under the article.

6. Article wrapping apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which said platform includes a first member in fixed relation to the table and a second member movable relative to the table to vary the width of the platform over the table, means defining an opening in each of said members intermediate their ends and remote from said plate to facilitate manual grasping of an article and wrapping sheet associated therewith, and means for maintaining the members in adjusted position relative to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,248,687 Nakahiro July 8, 1941 2,635,672 Rumsey Apr. 21, 1953 2,780,045 Dabrick Feb. 5, 1957 2,840,962 Stremke July 1, 1958 

